Aside from being a parrot lover, I am the Director of Music at an Episcopal Church in Hot Springs, Arkansas, which has a day school associated with it. The 1st and 2nd Grade teacher asked me and Lorrie (our Curator, who has a Quaker and a Peach-faced Conure) if we would bring in our birds to show the children, and talk about each of them.

My husband and I brought in our Cockatiel and our Senegal, and Lorrie brought in both of her birds. When she wanted to bring out the Conure, I offered to take the Quaker (named Monkey), who is also my good buddy. Because I had a loose T-shirt on, Lorrie suggested I show the children how Monkey loves to be wrapped up. Since Monkey is far from bashful, he not only let himself be wrapped up, he completely disappeared under my shirt, refusing to come out. He proceeded to make his way up to my shoulders, and continued to scoot around “undercover,” all the while emitting a muffled “Peek a Boo.”

The children, who had been told to be very still and quiet so they wouldn’t scare the birds, were doing all they could to not fall out of their chairs laughing at this talking lump scampering around under my shirt.

The children wrote us wonderful thank you notes, all with charming pictures they drew of whoever was their favorite bird. It was interesting to read which birds they preferred — and why, but the universal last sentence in almost all these precious notes was: “I loved it when Monkey went down Miss Lynn’s shirt. “Miss Lynn” hasn’t stopped blushing?